Giants’ loss to the Saints is the final proof needed for why New York must fire Brian Daboll
The New York Giants loss to the New Orleans Saints is the latest embarrassment for Brian Daboll
Whelp, it was fun being optimistic while it lasted. The New York Giants suffered an embarrassing loss to the New Orleans Saints, 26-14, in a game filled with avoidable mistakes.
Last week’s win against the Los Angeles Chargers paved the way for success this season. For the first half, it seemed that winning through dominant defense and running the football was a repeatable strategy. Then the turnovers piled up, Jaxson Dart had a brutal second half, and the offensive line had multiple untimely penalties.
Let’s look back at the three most important takeaways from the game.
No more room for error for Brian Daboll
Here we are, talking about the same nonsense again. Multiple turnovers derailed promising drives. Multiple drops by the Giants’ unimpressive receivers took the air out of the passing game. Penalties by the offensive line, specifically Jermaine Elumanor, created situations that weren’t convertable.
The lack of attention to detail has become a recurring theme under Brian Daboll. Allowing those mistakes to lead to a loss against the worst team in the NFL is inexcusable. It’s beyond repair, and this is the final piece of evidence needed to demonstrate that Daboll should be fired soon.
I allowed for last week’s performance to sell me on the possibility of Daboll earning more time to develop the quarterback that he drafted. It appeared like there was a way to build off the win. For this team to have taken three steps backward and for Dart to struggle as much as he did is beyond embarrassing.
An extremely volatile day for Jaxson Dart
Up until about 10 minutes to go in the third quarter, Dart was having a solid performance. Despite not having Malik Nabers, it looked like Dart was establishing a rhythm with his tight ends and running backs to orchestrate drives. He even had an incredibly impressive scramble to show off his athletic ability.
But then he had a silly fumble trying to evade pressure, losing his grip on the football. After that, Dart went on to throw two interceptions. The Giants were out of the game by the time that Dart threw his second one.
His first interception is somewhat excusable because it was fourth and 6, and nothing seemed to be open. Launching the ball downfield effectively made it the same as a punt, but it appeared Dart didn’t see Beaux Collins running across the field.
Dart’s three turnovers are exactly what concerned me when I evaluated him as a draft prospect. When everything is flowing offensively, he’s money. He handles pressure well, he scrambles for first downs, and he connects on wide-open throws.
However, while at Ole Miss, games like the one he had against Florida were a serious red flag. When the Rebels struggled, Dart made pressing and brutal decisions that became compounding mistakes. Additionally, in this game, he was overly reliant on short dump-offs that were short of the sticks.
This is his second-ever start; panicking would be an overly reactionary response. But Giants fans need to understand that two versions of Dart exist, and the rookie mistakes will hold him back.
The Giants don’t have any talent at WR
The loss of Nabers was obviously going to weaken the Giants’ passing attack severely. Without Nabers, they needed to explore outside options to maintain any production. For some reason, the Giants thought Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt were enough to survive. They were incredibly wrong.
The Giants did not have a wide receiver exceed 35 yards, as Slayton led the team with three catches for 31 yards. Wan’Dale Robinson totalled five catches for 30 yards. Hyatt had zero receptions on three targets. Last, Collins only mustered one catch for seven yards.
The Giants’ two most significant offensive issues have been their lack of talent at receiver and offensive line. Outside of their two best players in Nabers and Andrew Thomas, all of their other starters at those positions are well below average. That, ultimately, was accentuated in today’s loss.